Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1887-06-12
EDIToa Posr-IxrrIIlsKycEa.


EDfToA PosT-IsTKLLzsKycKa.
l notice that Seattle has made rapid
Advancement in the last few years.
Wei, long may she thrive. The
growth seems 70 have bean made
without . great deal Of Newspaper
blowing. The interests Of Seattle and
Eastern Washington are one and the
same.
II the railroad, now On the eve Of
e9ppiesion, carries wheat at fair prices.
i viii have all il can do BY the middle
Of August; and II the work confines
with al the force that can Be put upon
Il, not more than half the crop can 81
taken out OF the bunch grass region bv
the end OF the year. There will be
another road needed, even If It should
extend no further east than Columbia
River.
Cattle and horses ranging upon the
hilisides are in fine order. Some Of
the cattle are Of for beef, which shows
the value OF bunch grass as . fat pro-
Queer. II IS equally good for the use
OF the dairymAn. The best favored
milk and butter are produced here.
and my impression Is that good diaries
started here would be able to send 10
Seattle the finest Of gilt-edge butter
and drive Eastern butter out Of the
MARKET In the foothills Of the Cas-
eadeS where there Is water, wood
enough for use, and thousands OF
acres OF bunch grass range which lasts
from April 70 November, presume
good diaries could be established and
ind ready markets on the Sound for
all the good butter that could be made.
II Is much easier to start IN the bust
ness where there Is already the best Of
summer pasture which has not even 10
be fenced. My neighbor, Mr.. Lewis,
has several good cows and makes the
best Of butter; he finds a market for
all Of IL because the article Is good.
The prices obtained for it will be better
Just so soon as il can be sent 70 Seattle.
1t Is much easier to open up q farm
here than in q timber country, but It
Is particularly hard to clear the upland
covered with FIR, and the hardest part
OF u IS that one must dig out fern al
his life and then not be nd OF it. The
bunch grass country Is not infested
with fern. have not seen ten square
rods OF il while living here. Fleas are
not here, and dogs are happy. If one
settles upon upland here, he will find
only sagebrush TO be grubbed, and il
can all be plowed up with 3 team Of
three horses.
The soil is nearly as good as valley
land. IL is light brown sandy loan
mixed with sediment, or sometimes a
very little clay, Just enough to make il
adhere slightly TO the hoe when work
ing il while wet. After the sod be-
comes rotted the soil Is mellow as an
ash heap when well cultivated. II
holds moisture better and longer than
bottom land. and will not require half
as much irrigation. The question of
irrigation has been the great objection
to settling them, but there is a change
taking place in public opinion, and
windmills are being made and wells
dug, and, by taking water ever the
fields in pipes or V-shaped fumes, il
can be placed where il is wanted with
out waste or conflict with anybody's
water rights. Already there IS grum-
bling about the use Of water from some
OF the small streams. The windmill
and well avoid the whole of il and give
every man his rights.
Fencing may be done with three
strands OF barbed wire, the highest 4s
inches from the ground. The cost Of
wire and staples for one rod of three
strand fence will be about 30 cents
posts about seven cents each, deliv-
cred; they may be from u to 30 feet
apart, but stays must be between, say
about every six feet How much easier
It is to begin TO make living on such
land than in heavy timber, with fern
TO dig.
Two years ago 40 acres OF alder land
located on the bluff between Puyallup
and White Rivers, about Is miles from
Tacoma, was sold for $1,000. The land
must be cleared, grubbed and drained
before it can be cultivated, and after
that the fern will grow beautifully and
be . pest forever. The same amount
of money in this section would buy
the privilege Of homestead right Of
leo acres, with some improvement on
it, and more than 40 acres Of good soil,
the remainder being good grazing.
How much easier to begin a home
where there is no clearing to be done,
and where there is natural pasture
around you for at least one half the
year. The roads are dry and hard
three-fourths OF the year; showers fall
occasionally, but, il they don't fall at
the right time. irrigation sets the crop
right and the workman who tends It
has a dry back. Gram never fails to
ripen hard and solid. Gooseberries,
raspberries. currants, grapes, black
berries, melons, squashes, tomatoes,
onions, potatoes, parsnips, carrots, let
tuce and such garden weeds as are used
for cooking purposes are produced in
abundance here with proper cultiva-
ton.
The sawdust from the mills on the
Wenas has killed or driven of nearly
all the fish. There is no longer any
fishing here. Benz. DoLREAR.
WESAs, Yakima county, W. T., May
sd. 1887.